Every session, I like to make it enjoyable for everyone, having fun shows in the final images even if they're not smiling. Some don't like to smile, some don't like to look serious (it makes them look mad), but to find a happy balance and capture a personality will make for beautiful variety in portraiture. With Larra Donaldson's Black Label portraits, I captured her confidence and fun mood. A photograph of confidence is different from one of just looking mad, it's in the eyes. It will be a constant reminder to the subject of what is inside her/him and, hopefully, give them inspiration and motivation that they can accomplish their goals and conquer their fears. Isn't that what we all want?

Meet Melody Martins, she is a bank president at Signature Bank in Bentonville. Not only is she ambitious and successful, but also genuinely sweet and kind. The images speak volumes about their personality, boldness and kindness with the drive that go her where she is today.

Over the past few years, it seems as though the nation has embraced more negativity, we've all seen it in many forms. There is an ever growing need to elevate the human spirit, self worth and acknowledge people for their many accomplishments, one of the reasons for Branch Black Label Portraiture.

The images I create are to show personalities. With high school seniors, the images show who they are at this point in their life; with family portraits, the images show the love and family connection; with business portraits, the images show that the person is approachable and a person you can trust.

With Branch Black Label Portraiture, my goal is to go further to an elevated personal level. While mood, confidence, ambition and success are the viewer's impression or thoughts, the images have another purpose that is more personal to the subject. The images portrait the energy of who that person is, a reminder of how others see them and who they truly are, which is a good reminder of our personal empowerment. My goal is to first, show the others who they are and inspire. On a personal level, the goal is to remind the subject of how awesome they are, to lift them up with a quick glance at the photo and give them purpose and ambition when the image 'looks back'.

Meet Adam and Calie Neil and their sweet daughters, Jada & Brooklyn. I had the opportunity to create their beautiful portraits just before Christmas. It's so important to have beautiful professional portraits created occasionally to show the growth and changes in life, this can be every year to every 5-6 years depending on the ages of the children. These portraits are important to the parents and family now, it is a centerpiece of the living room where guests, friends and family can view and be a conversation piece. What most people don't think about is how these prints will be MORE important in decades down the road. To look back, enjoy and reminisce of days of youth what times were like and the times enjoyed. Later in years the children will want the photos to display in their own homes, to show their kids, friends and family as a conversation piece… and the cycle continues with images that grow more valuable.

I have the honor to work with Calie on many occasions, creating images for great people at Legacy Bank, she and the bank are always a pleasure to work with. During the session I recognized Adam, he looked familiar, we got to talking and found out he used to work at Bedford Camera for several years until he went to JB Hunt 15 years ago. Back before switching to digital full time about 18 years ago, I carried film to Bedfords for processing on a regular basis and got to know many of them including Adam. He shared an inspiring story of how a relationship he made with a Bedford client directed him to JB Hunt and he has greatly progressed since that time, a truly inspiring truth in every business.

The session was fun and exciting, even though it was Brooklyn's (the youngest) first time to be photographed in a studio setting, she did great, all the while giving us fun expressions, showing her personality (giving us all a good laugh). After we completed the session, Jada even came up and gave me a hug, that made my day.

The stories I get to hear from clients during sessions are so great. To get to know what they do, where they've been, about their family and show their pride & love in their children, this is another reason I love what I do.

Location sessions are always exciting for me. While I do research on the property and location as much as I can, it's never exactly the same as being there. This challenges me, technically and artistically, and I love that challenge that pushes me to focus on the final image and the many possibilities.

I had a recent opportunity to create images on location at a private ranch in Missouri. I wasn't able to do much research since it was an open ranch, only able to see on the private web site I was provided. Arriving early, I was able to meet the parents and chat about options and areas they liked. It was an honor to hear of the history of the ranch and of their hunting trips as a family to Africa. This 2000 acre ranch was very nice with rolling hills, open grazing and wooded areas for the deer that were plenty (I saw about 15 does and 4-5 large buck while in the time we were driving around).

We were able to capture a wide variety of incredible images in various spots until the sun went down. The images below are from the first location we went to that was close to the lodge. The other locations were equally as awesome.

I didn't have the opportunity to know my grand parents well. My grandfather on my dad's side passed away when my father was 12 and his mom when i was 6 months old, so i never met either of them. My grandparents on my mother's side passed away when I was a teenager. I don't know what I missed out on until I see a family together with several generations, then I see the tremendous amount of love, how grandparents love and love to spoil their grandchildren and how the parents are basically 'out of the picture' when the grandparents are around .

So when I see a family come together that includes the grandparents I'm thankful they are taking this time and opportunity to create a beautiful image to be on their wall for generations. I have just a few small snapshots of my grandparents, but to a portrait on the wall to tell friends and guests about. The wall portrait goes further, it makes a stronger connection, not only for the family but for the friends and guests. Imagine standing in front of the family portrait on the wall and telling your guests about your grandparents, what they do now, what they did for a living and about their life… suddenly your guests feel more connected to you and have a deeper appreciation for your family connection.

This summer I had the opportunity to photograph the wonderful Wedding family. I had the chance to create their daughter's senior portraits a few years back and got to know her. We not only photographed the family but individually, siblings and then parents. This provided them great grouping opportunities.

A few months later, they called me back to come to their home, their parents were in town for the weekend. There we created portraits that each set of grandparents would like as well as the parents. What joy this portrait will bring their family over the many years to come and passed down to great and great-great grandchildren sharing the story behind the portrait of each person.

There is NO other item you can invest in, that will increase in value as much as a family portrait, it gains value every year, regardless of the economy… the value is in the heart!

What an honor to see families grow and photograph the changes. I am aways excited to see families return and see their children growing up, see seniors come back after years in college, having their headshot created for a carrier we talked about during their session, has not become a reality. When Angie Haws called for a family portrait, I was excited and also so for Karli's senior portraits (see blog post below). We had a great time and they are one of the nicest families I've ever met. The top photo above is from September this year and the one below was from 2011. I wish there was a way to put a freeze on time, but that wouldn't be fair to the young ones who have such a great life ahead, full of hopes, dreams and ambitions.

In Angie's words: "We have been going to Keith for many years. We’ve NEVER been disappointed! Our family pics are always fantastic and we receive many compliments but he really outdid himself on my daughter's recent senior portraits! BREATHTAKING!!!!"